The organization of the lipid-containing membrane of influenza virus has been studied by the use of three different lipid spin labels, and the results are compared with a parallel study on human erythrocyte ghosts. The lipid phase of the viral membrane is slightly more rigid than that of the erythrocyte ghosts. The data suggest that the viral lipid is arranged in a bilayer. The glycoprotein spikes covering the viral membrane were specifically removed by proteases, and no alteration in the environment of any of the three spin labels was detected. This suggests that the spikes are not involved in determining the organization of the lipid bilayer.

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By comparing t h e r i g i d i t y a t s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t depths W e have previously shown t h a t s p e c t r a of spin-labeled influenza v i r u s and of human r e d blood c e l l membranes have similar c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which suggested t h a t t h e l i p i d i n t h e v i r u s was arranged i n a b i l a y e r ( 9 ) . The s u r f a c e membranes of transformed c e l l s have p r o p e r t i e s which may be r e f l e c t e d i n t h e envelopes of oncogenic v i r u s e s which form by a process of budding a t t h e plasma membrane. To i n v e s t i g a t e t h e arrangement of l i p i d s i n such a v i r u s , we * Established I n v e s t i g a t o r of t h e American Heart Association

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